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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-28072

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 07 June 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 19 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the supplementary to question S6F-03197 by Kate Forbes on 6 June 2024, in relation to the reported concerns expressed about delays in holding fatal accident inquiries, whether it will provide further details of the timing of any statement to the Parliament by the Law Officers.

Question reference: S6O-03562

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 June 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the application of the principles in the Scottish Public Finance Manual, what its position is on whether the reported estimated cost of £3.56 million for refurbishment to decarbonise the Procurator Fiscal’s Office in Elgin represents value for money, in light of the property being valued at £275,000 in March 2022.

Question reference: S6O-03530

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether there are excessive delays in holding fatal accident inquiries.

Question reference: S6W-27298

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 21 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will withdraw the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

The Scottish Government does not plan to withdraw the Visitor Levy (Scotland) Bill. The Bill, if passed, will give councils the power to introduce a visitor levy in all or part of their area, if they think it is right to do so and after they have consulted local businesses, communities, and tourism organisations. A visitor levy can be a force for good, delivering benefits for businesses, communities, and visitors.

Question reference: S6W-27297

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 20 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will drop its proposed changes to deer management, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

We are currently facing a climate and biodiversity crisis. High densities of herbivores such as deer can have a very serious impact on our forests and land by trampling and overgrazing.

Our 2021 response to the report by the independent Deer Working Group (DWG), recognised that a much greater urgency to our efforts to ensure sustainable deer management is required.

As Roseanna Cunningham, then Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform set out in that response, “protection of the massive and essential investments we are making in natural solutions to reduce carbon emissions and to enhance and restore biodiversity in Scotland have to be the main focus of our deer management policy”.

We remain committed to modernising Scotland’s systems of deer management and implement recommendations made by the DWG as set out in both that response and the 2021-22 Programme for Government .

Question reference: S6W-27296

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 20 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will remove the requirements relating to compulsory compliance with minimum energy efficiency and the installation of decarbonised heating systems from its proposed Heat in Buildings Bill, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

In November 2023 Scottish Government published a consultation on Proposals for a Heat in Buildings Bill. This included proposals to set a Heat in Buildings Standard, which would prohibit the use of polluting heating systems after 2045 and require homes to meet a minimum energy efficiency standard. The consultation also asked for views on how to monitor and enforce this Standard, including the role for modifications and exemptions. The consultation closed in March 2024 and independent analysis of the c.1650 responses is currently underway. We will use this analysis to help our thinking going forward, and the First Minister will set out his policy and legislative priorities for the remainder of the parliamentary session in due course.

Question reference: S6W-27294

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 15 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will remove the ban on wood burning stoves in new build homes, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Although there is no blanket ban on wood burning stoves, the Scottish Government has been listening to the concerns raised over the past weeks about the reliance on biomass and wood burning stoves in rural and remote areas, and is taking these fully on board.

The New Build Heat Standard, as it currently stands, applies only to new buildings and certain types of conversions applying for a building warrant from 1 April 2024. Wood burning stoves or other ‘direct emission heating systems’ can under this current standard still be installed to provide ‘emergency heating’.

However, we acknowledge that the way in which technical guidance is currently drafted on what constitutes emergency heating can be difficult to reconcile with the nature of wood burning stoves which are often installed for more frequent use, rather than solely as emergency systems, particularly in rural homes. We are currently considering the guidance and will work with concerned parties, developers, and Local Authorities to ensure any updates to the existing technical guidance address these concerns.

Question reference: S6W-27295

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 03 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will repeal the short-term lets regulations, and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

We remain committed to the current regulation of short-term let accommodation. Over the last decade the sector has both grown significantly and changed in nature. That has brought economic benefits but also raised concerns about consistency of quality and the impact on neighbourhoods. The introduction of licensing brings short-term lets in line with other accommodation such as hotels and caravan parks, providing assurance to guests on safety and quality such as gas and electrical safety compliance and the suitability of hosts.

I am currently preparing an update for Parliament on the implementation of short-term let licensing. This will outline findings from our monitoring and ongoing engagement with stakeholders.

Question reference: S6T-01989

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in the event that the reported legal action raised against it by Biffa and any potential actions by other companies that incurred expenditure in expectation of the Deposit Return Scheme being implemented are successful and lead to any financial losses, whether it will consider suing the UK Government in respect of any such losses, in light of its reported position that the UK Government is responsible for the scheme not proceeding in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-26861

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 7 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-26188 by Angela Constance on 15 April 2024, in the event that the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill does not apply to Scotland, what consideration it is giving to how Scottish legislation would define any case involving the Horizon system in relation to which a person who was wrongfully convicted in Scotland should be exonerated, and whether it will propose a parliamentary debate on the issues arising from the Post Office Horizon system in Scotland following a ministerial update to the Parliament.